Marianne Pernold

PORTSMOUTH - Marianne Pernold was born in Vienna Austria in the spring of 1944. A World War II war baby, Marianne immigrated to the US at the age of nine.

She found her way to Washington DC in her early 20s where she worked at the World Bank and nurtured a photography career. Her early talent led her to working with Ansel Adams, documenting the presidential campaign of Jimmy Carter, and shooting portraits of notables such as astronaut John Glenn.

In 1972, Marianne met Kevin Connell and together they moved to Shepherdstown, W. Va., to pursue their love for the restaurant business. In 1976, they established The Yellow Brick Bank restaurant. Renowned for its cuisine and ambiance, The Yellow Brick Bank was patronized by Washington's elite and press. Kevin and Marianne married and welcomed their son Keper in 1979. In the early '80s, the family moved to Rye, running two more restaurants, The True Blue Café (now Pocos) and The Marina Café (now Latitudes).

With her second husband, Gordon Young, Marianne found tremendous inspiration. Together they established the Seacoast Forever Young Team and biked the Pan Mass challenge twice.

A progressive liberal and longtime supporter of the Democratic party, in 2008 Marianne found herself in the national public eye after asking the question that famously made Hillary Clinton cry during a campaign stop at Café Espresso.

Throughout her life, her passion for photography was constant, an extension of her ability to forge relationships and connections, even among strangers. Her natural ability to capture human expression found her photographing generations of Seacoast families. She has produced some of the best documentarian portraits of contributors to our community: a calendar of local breast cancer survivors; a chronicle of Portsmouth women business owners; an expose on the changing fishing industry in her photos of the Portsmouth Co Op; a published book and an app of Portsmouth architecture called Portsmouth Looking Up; portraits of farmers from Portsmouth Growers Association; and recently a portrait series of Seacoast chefs revealing the contents of their home refrigerators.

Marianne was a true supporter of the arts, and a well-known figure around town - some may call her a Portsmouth icon. All the while, she had been fighting lobular breast cancer since 2003, beating it twice, when it finally took her life on Saturday, April 7, 2018, one day shy of her 74th birthday. Her last days were spent surrounded by love in the company of her close friends and family, including her three-month-old grandchildren. Marianne was a true source of energy.

She is survived by her son Keper Connell, daughter-in-law Andree Connell, grandchildren Esmé and Ronan Connell, all of Rye; as well as her vibrant tribe of girlfriends, and countless friends and admirers.

Donations in memory of Marianne may be made to Arts In Reach or New Heights.